Whether you are fighting a cold, feeling low in energy or just fancy a nourishing bowl of something tasty, be sure to make time for this intensely flavoured and easily made soup. I bet you already have the ingredients.

Built on a base of quercetin-rich red onions, immune-regulating garlic and anti-inflammatory darling turmeric, the broth – at once light and hearty – floats a veritable who’s who of nutritious food superstars. Kale, carrots, lentils, sun-dried tomatoes (for a tasty dose of lycopene) and lemon zest, not to mention fresh herbs and chilli flakes, come together to invigorate you on the coldest and shortest of days. You can change the kale for cabbage of any kind; add in some cooked grains for heft; leave out the chilli flakes. But what I would say is that I have carefully balanced the flavours until I (and my chief tester) have judged it to be perfect. I would urge you to first try it as written before making it your own way – although you know I love it when you make my recipes YOUR recipes.

We have declared this our favourite soup of the season. I doubt I will better it, to be honest. But I will try!A few words of wisdom – to be ignored if you like: serve the broth warm rather than scalding hot. The flavours really really come through when it has been cooked and allowed to cool a bit. Use the cooling time to slice some good bread (no sliced and bagged stuff please) and slide it into the toaster or under the grill. Now reach up on tip toes to fetch the good evoo that you hide from the rest of the household (oops, is that just me then?) and drizzle some over the toast, keeping it handy to anoint the soup if you wish. We have it without any fripperies but if you fancy doing so add shavings of fresh Parmesan or a vegetarian equivalent. This soup makes four hearty servings and freezes well. Andrew has taken it to work and eaten it at room temperature; he reported back that this was perfectly fine to do.

5 Ways To Tweak Your Anti-Inflammatory Broth

1) Add in more goodness by tipping in a can of best quality tomatoes (tomatoes are NOT pro-inflammatory*, although individuals may be sensitive to the small amount of solanin in all edible nightshade relatives)

2) Change out the kale for its milder cousins, chard or spinach

3) Cook up some grains and add them in. Or better yet, reach into your freezer to add in some frozen grains that you cleverly cooked at an earlier date. Freekeh is especially fabulous here.

4) Make this with more of an Indian sub-continent vibe by adding in half teaspoon each of ground cumin, cinnamon and coriander; ditching the rosemary for leaf coriander/cilantro

5) Add in even more vegetables! The more the merrier. Why not try cubes of celeriac, rutabaga or green beans?

Turmeric, Lentil and Lemon Soup

This healthy, colour-packed soup recipe scoops up some key anti-inflammatory ingredients and simmers them up in a silky autumnal broth.

Course
Soup

Cuisine
Mediterranean

Keyword
anti-inflammatory, kale, lentils, turmeric, vegetarian

Prep Time5minutes

Cook Time25minutes

Total Time30minutes

Servings4bowls

Calories245kcal

Ingredients

2tbspextra virgin olive oil

1red onionfinely diced

2celery sticksfinely diced

1mediumcarrotfinely diced

3garlic clovesfinely minced

1 1/2 tspground turmericor fresh, grated

1/4tspground black pepperfreshly ground

1/4tspground allspiceoptional

1/2tspchilli flakes

2tspchopped fresh rosemary leaves

150gramsred/orange lentilsrinsed

1.7litreslight vegetable stockI use Marigold Swiss Bouillon

8sun-dried tomato halves in oilchopped

80gramskalerinsed and chopped in small pieces

1/2unwaxed lemon zest and juice

1handfulparsleyfinely chopped

extraextra virgin olive oilfor serving

Instructions

Heat the olive oil in a medium-large saucepan over low-medium flame. Add the onion and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until softened. Add the garlic, celery, carrots, turmeric, pepper, allspice, rosemary and chilli flakes. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until smelling gorgeous and garlicky

Add in the lentils and stock. Bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to low and partially cover. Simmer for 20 minutes, until lentils are tender.

Stir in the kale, sun-dried tomatoes and lemon zest to the soup. Bring back up to simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice and parsley and serve warm, rather than hot.

Recipe Notes

This brothy soup tastes best on the day, but freezes and reheats well. If you know you won't be eating it for a day or two, leave out the last-minute additions of kale, sun-dried tomatoes and lemon juice until you reheat the broth.

To make the broth heartier, add a handful of cooked grains. Adding uncooked into the broth will "muddy" it, but that's just a cosmetic thing. Add more stock if using uncooked grains.

I am forever extolling the virtues of turmeric and I am always so happy to know that others find it just as valuable as I do. Let mw know if you try this soup. It really is my favourite at this time of year 🙂

Ps I forgot to answer your question – we are eating loads of mushrooms & leafy greens and I keep reaching for khaki clothes from my wardrobe…I guess we are into the Autumn/ Winter season (which I love)

Your blog post popped up this afternoon on my email, when I was cold and tired. And you were right – this is the soup I need right now! I am now in my pjs, slurping up a bowl of this (delicious) soup, listening to the wind howl outside and waiting for The Great British Bake Off semifinal to start. Utter autumnal perfection! Thanks Kellie.

Yay! Helen, I’m so glad that this recipe came at the right time for you! Thanks so much for your wonderful feedback. I had popcorn during GBBO. 🙂 But I made a batch of this soup for yesterday’s cancer nutrition class, and will be having the leftovers tonight!

Wow wow wow! This soup looks amazing I have many of the ingredients except sun dried tomatoes.
I will get the tomatoes for authentic flavour, but could you suggest an alternative as they are quite expensive if making this soup on a budget.
I love the list of soups mentioned & can you suggest a supplier for your Tumeric.

Hi Cheri. I love the enthusiasm for this soup! It makes me so happy! It will still be delicious without the sun-dried tomatoes but if dried rather than in oil is quite a bit cheaper get those. As for the turmeric, get whatever your grocery store sells. Let me know how you get on with the soup, okay? 😊

I'm Kellie, an ex-pat American cancer health educator with a taste for global food - and big flavours - made with fresh, seasonal British ingredients. Food To Glow is mainly 'plant-based', but you will find the occasional decadent treat - usually with a healthy tweak. Although I'm an omnivore, I speak fluent vegan: most of my non-vegan recipes will have vegan alternatives, as well as gluten-free and soft food diet options where appropriate. All recipes are tested out on family, friends and/or my cancer nutrition classes at the Maggies Cancer Caring Centres. You are very welcome to read, comment and share!

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